A lot of us are finding that we have more time on our hands at the moment, and may be looking for some ways to fill that time, as well as to escape reality for a while. A great way to achieve both of those goals is through reading; especially if you love books as much as I do. So, as many of you may be ploughing through your to-read list at break neck speed and looking for some more recommendations at the end of it, I have put together a list of the 10 best books I have read over the past couple of years.
My 5 Favourite Books I Read in 2018
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all. Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realises... the only way to survive is to open your heart.
What I thought: To be honest, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine isn’t a book that I would normally have chosen to read. I normally veer towards thrillers and stay away from anything that looks too much like chick lit or anything that might be sad (because I’m a sensitive wuss). However, Nick picked up this book whilst we were travelling and loved it so much that I had to read it too. And I am SO glad that I did! Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is funny, heart-warming and thought provoking. It is now one of my all-time favourite books and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!
2. The Sunday Girl – Pip Drysdale
Some love affairs change you forever. Someone comes into your orbit and swivels you on your axis, like the wind working on a rooftop weather vane. And when they leave, as the wind always does, you are different; you have a new direction. And it’s not always north. Any woman who’s ever been involved with a bad, bad man and been dumped will understand what it feels like to be broken, broken-hearted and bent on revenge. Taylor Bishop is hurt, angry and wants to destroy Angus Hollingsworth in the way he destroyed her: Insidiously. Irreparably. Like a puzzle, he’d slowly dissembled … stolen a couple of pieces from, and then discarded, knowing that nobody would ever be able to put it back together ever again. So, Taylor consulted The Art of War and made a plan. Then she took the next step – one that would change her life forever. Then things get really out of control – and The Sunday Girl becomes impossible to put down.
What I thought: The Sunday Girl is like if Bridget Jones became a thriller and I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately for me, I’m pretty sure Pip Drysdale’s books are only sold in Australia, and so I haven’t been able to get hold of a copy of her most recent book, The Strangers We Know, which I am dying to read! However, I have noticed that copies of The Sunday Girl have started being sold on UK Amazon, so definitely grab yourself a copy while you can!
Side note: if anyone reading this in Australia wants to send me a copy of The Strangers We Know to brighten up my lockdown, I would be eternally grateful!
3. The Heart Goes Last – Margaret Atwood
Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around - and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes. At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.
What I thought: Margaret Atwood is most famous for writing The Handmaid’s Tale (which I love!) but she also has an extensive bibliography of lots of other, equally amazing books. Like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Heart Goes Last is a dystopian novel that shines a light on inequality within society. If you love The Handmaid’s Tale and/or dystopian fiction, I would definitely recommend giving The Heart Goes Last a read. Although, as we head into major recession, it may hit a bit close to home.
4. The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times… and spying on her neighbours. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
What I thought: Probably one of the most popular thrillers of 2018 and due to be released as a film this year. If you love thrillers and, like me, like to have read the book before seeing the film, then get The Woman in the Window read now before it’s released in cinemas later this year!
5. Believe Me – J.P. Delaney
In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation. A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected. Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide. Then the game changes. When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession. Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy… and who is the prey?
What I thought: Full disclosure: the fight for this last spot was a tough one. It was a close call between this book, I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh and The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. All three of these authors are some of my favourite thriller writers.
However, I awarded the last spot to Believe Me by J.P. Delaney simply because of how twisty this book is. One of my favourite things in a book is a good plot twist, and Believe Me has them in abundance! If you’re looking for a thriller filled with so many twists and turns that you’ll turn the last page with whiplash, I can’t recommend Believe Me by J.P. Delaney enough. (And also check out all of his other books!)
My 5 Favourite Books I Read in 2019
1. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton
Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed... again. It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...
What I thought: This was my favourite book that I read last year, and one that I recommend to absolutely everyone. It is so incredibly clever and inventive; I love the premise, the structure, the ending, everything about it. If you love murder mysteries, suspense and shock endings, drop everything and give The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle a read.
2. The Cormoran Strike Series – Robert Galbraith
Description of Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4):
When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike's office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts from his office in a panic. Trying to get to the bottom of Billy's story, Strike and Robin Ellacott – once his assistant, now a partner in the agency – set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside. And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike's own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been – Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much trickier than that. The most epic Robert Galbraith novel yet, Lethal White is both a gripping mystery and a page-turning next instalment in the ongoing story of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.
What I thought: The Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) is one of my all-time favourite book series (contended only by Harry Potter). I’ve been in love with them ever since before the true identity of their author was revealed and I absolutely devour them as soon as they get released. The most recent book in the series, Lethal White, was released just before we went travelling. However, because I collect the books and didn’t want to have to leave my copy at a campsite in the outback of Australia or lug it around with me for a year, I decided to wait until we were coming home to read it. I managed to find an English copy in a Japanese book store in Tokyo when we were on the last leg of our trip and, as with all of the rest of them, I absolutely loved it! If you love crime fiction and haven’t read any of these books yet, I would recommend picking up a copy of The Cuckoo’s Calling and getting started right away! If you’re already reading and loving the series, you’ll be pleased to know that the next book in the series, Troubled Blood, is due to be released on 29th September 2020! I know what I want for my birthday!
3. A Simple Favour – Darcey Bell
She’s your best friend. She knows all your secrets. That’s why she’s so dangerous. A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. It starts with a simple favour—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time. But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing — not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favour — is as simple as it seems.
What I thought: I read this book after seeing the film (which was amazing! A thriller starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, what more could you ask for?) I really enjoyed it and if you enjoy female-orientated thrillers, I think you will too.
4. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town – and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
What I thought: Little Fires Everywhere is a very well written, thought provoking and emotional read, that explores an array of profound subjects, such as race, privilege, identity and motherhood. Would recommend if you’re looking for a book with some substance that will get you thinking about important issues within society.
5. The Dreamers – Karen Thompson Walker
In an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a freshman girl stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics who carry her away, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. Then a second girl falls asleep, and then another, and panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. As the number of cases multiplies, classes are cancelled, and stores begin to run out of supplies. A quarantine is established. The National Guard is summoned. Mei, an outsider in the cliquish hierarchy of dorm life, finds herself thrust together with an eccentric, idealistic classmate. Two visiting professors try to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. A father succumbs to the illness, leaving his daughters to fend for themselves. And at the hospital, a new life grows within a college girl, unbeknownst to her—even as she sleeps. A psychiatrist, summoned from Los Angeles, attempts to make sense of the illness as it spreads through the town. Those infected are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, more than has ever been recorded. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?
What I thought: This is a great book with a really interesting premise. However, as it focuses on a deadly epidemic of a new illness that puts a town under quarantine, it might hit a bit close to home at the moment. Perhaps proceed with caution if you’re easily affected by such things, or fast track it to the top of your to-read list if you’re looking for something a bit #relatable.
Let me know if you read any of these books during lockdown, or if you’ve already read them, and what you think in the comments below!
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